Jax Briggs
Jackson "Jax" Briggs is a fictional character from the Mortal Kombat fighting video game series.Jax debuted in Mortal Kombat II in 1993, appearing in every game in the main Mortal Kombat series since then. He was also the protagonist of the action-adventure game Mortal Kombat: Special Forces and one of the eleven characters representing the Mortal Kombat universe in the crossover game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, also appearing in large roles in the live-action film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the animated series Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, the short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth and the live-action series Mortal Kombat: Legacy. In video games Jax is an African-American United States Special Forces major who first appears in Mortal Kombat II to find and rescue his partner Sonya Blade from Outworld and bring Kano into custody, a mission he successfully completes, although Kano soon escapes. When Shao Kahn invades Earthrealm in Mortal Kombat 3, Jax prepares for battle by fitting his arms with bionic implants, and after helping foil Kahn's attempt to permanently claim Earth as his own, he and Sonya found the Outer World Investigation Agency (OIA), which specializes in exploring and mapping other realms, as well as the destruction of interdimensional portals that could lead to Earth. In Mortal Kombat 4, he joins the Earthrealm heroes and successfully stops Shinnok and his forces from entering Earth. After Shinnok's defeat, Jax witnesses Jarek trying to kill Sonya while the two are on the edge of the cliff. Jax catches up with Jarek, grabs him and drops him off the cliff. While returning to Earthrealm, Jax and Sonya find Cyrax malfunctioning in a desert; the two bring the cyborg back to the OIA headquarters, where they restore Cyrax's humanity. In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, the OIA's underground facility is destroyed by Hsu Hao, who reveals himself to be part of the Red Dragon clan. Jax has a score to settle with him while Hsu Hao was sent by Mavado to kill Shang Tsung. On his way to Tsung's palace, Jax finally catches up with Hsu Hao and kills him by ripping out his artificial heart implant. During the final attack against the Deadly Alliance, Jax and his allies are killed by the Alliance's Tarkatan warriors. After the Dragon King Onaga defeats Raiden and the Alliance, he resurrected Raiden and the dead Earthrealm heroes as his slaves, but Ermac and the spirit of Liu Kang later break his mind control. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Sonya's sends Jax to lead a team of Special Forces to search for survivors after destroying Sektor's Tekunin Warship, but they later vanish and are captured by the Tekunin. Jax's first chronological adventure was actually depicted in Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, in which he chases after the escaped Kano and several other Black Dragon members, aided by a fellow Special Forces operative Gemini. As one of the many changes in canon the 2011 reboot Mortal Kombat game brought, Jax's human arms were obliterated psychically by Ermac in Outworld. He was then rushed back to Earthrealm by Sonya to be fitted with entire cybernetic arms instead of mere implants. 'Character design' Jax was originally conceived as a character prior to Sonya's creation and possessed her scenario for the first Mortal Kombat. However, since there were no female characters in the original roster at the time, Sonya was created and she inherited his story line of pursuing Kano and entrapment on Shang Tsung's island. His original name was going to be "Kurtis Stryker" and Midway later recycled that name to create a new character in Mortal Kombat 3. Jax was also originally conceived as simply a kickboxer, but the idea was scrapped due to potential similarities to Balrog and Sagat from the Street Fighter series. Then he was given a yellow martial arts gi and big metal hands that clanged upon impact. However, the outfit concealed much of the impressive physique of actor/bodybuilder John Parrish, so he simply went shirtless with long black tights. Game footage was actually shot with Jax wearing the yellow costume, and Parrish accidentally split the pants during filming. He had the bionic implants painted onto his arms for MK3. In the very early screenshots of Deadly Alliance, Jax was seen in his classic MK3 attire, however, it is later decided to give Jax a new look. His alternate costume in Deadly Alliance and Armageddon confirmed that his implants were removable. However, the game programmers mistakenly outfitted Jax with a red beret instead of a green one; a red beret represents U.S. Army airborne units, whereas green is worn by the members of the Special Forces ("Green Berets").